Newsletter of the Central Illinois English Country Dancers

Summer 2001

Here are some folks showing off their finery at this spring's Playford
Ball. The turnout for the ball was very good with nearly forty dancers in
attendance. There were many wonderful costumes on display. The winners of
the costume contest were Dan Punzak and Beth Hanson who were named King and
Queen of the Ball. Thanks for all of the hard work by many so people to make
this event such a success.

The spring season began with a special dance in honor of Simon Kos, who
was leaving for a post-doctoral position in New Mexico. This event was a
dinner, party and dance held jointly by the International Folk Dancers, the
Urbana Country Dancers, the Central Illinois English Country Dancers and the
Amasong chorus, all of these being groups he had been involved with during
his time in Champaign-Urbana. It was a very enjoyable evening with plenty
of music and dancing. He'll be missed in our local dance community.

In addition to our regular monthly dances we have been trying to branch
out and help spread the word about our group with some dance performances.
We have been trying for several years to get a small performance group
started. This spring, with much effort, we succeeded in doing three
performances. The first was in February for the Sinfonia da Camera annual
gala fundraiser. We performed a couple of dances and then persuaded a few
folks to join us for a dance. We felt our performance was very well received.
The second event was a performance for the Spoon River College Cultural
Festival in April. Once again we performed a few dances, attempting to
illustrate a bit about the evolution of popular dance in the west during the
past 400 years. Then we invited the students to join us and got a large
group of them dancing. Our final performance was at the Dickson Mounds
Museum in June. In this case we were strictly performing a selection of
interesting English and early American dances. They were very impressed and
expressed interest in having us return someday. Perhaps then we will be able
to teach some dances as well as perform.

Have a great summer and we'll see you in the fall.

Summer and Fall 2001 Shedule:

Most dances will be held at the Springer Cultural Center, 301 N. Randolph
in downtown Champaign. We ask for a $1.00 donation at these dances to pay for
the use of the facility. There may be an admission charge for special events.

Saturday, August 4: Pool party at Jane Hobgood's, 3 Illini
Circle, Urbana. Swimming at 3:00, dancing in the pool at 4:00, potluck
dinner at 6:00. Rain date: Sunday, August 5.

Saturday, September 8: dance 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the
Springer Center.

Sunday, September 23: Dance and picnic in the gardens at
Allerton Park. Picnic from 1:00 to 3:00, meet at the visitors' center.
Dancing from 3:00 to 6:00 in the gardens. Admission free.

Friday, October 26: Hallowe'en Masquerade dance from 8:00
to 10:00 p.m. at the Springer Center.

Saturday, November 17: dance from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the
Springer Center.

Sunday, December 2: dance from 3:00 to 5:00 p.m. at the
Springer Center.

Saturday, December 15: 7th Annual Christmas Ball from 8:00
to 11:00 at the Channing-Murray Foundation.

For further information:

Jonathan Sivier at 217/359-8225 (j-sivier@uiuc.edu)
Jane Hobgood at 217/328-1708 (jbhob@shout.net)
The CIECD webpage; http://www.prairienet.org/ciecd/
For the current schedule and further information return to the
CIECD webpageBack Issues of the Central Illinois English
Country Dancers' Newsletter